A-7 TRAM HUD Control Panel

Ser No EA482/70

This panel's two 350mm long cables are excluded from the given size but included in the given weight.

The world’s first raster HUD system was developed by Marconi-Elliott Avionics in 1973 for the A-7 Corsair. The system was called TRAM (Target Recognition Attack Multisensor) and electronically combined the display of a low light level or infra-red sensor in the HUD system with the HUD symbols such that the pilot was given night vision. Another application was to display a radar display.

Symbology was added to the raster by means of a complex dual vidicon scan converter CRT which required a large number of preset adjustments. The HUD operated in a normal high brightness symbology mode in daylight with a raster display at night thus providing a 24 hour capability. The FLIR in the A-7 system had a zoom capability of about 11:1 and was used in identification of target ships from medium altitude. Around 65 of these TRAM systems were made and they saw service in Vietnam.

This control panel has rotary controls for the FLIR (Infra Red Sensor), but it is not identical to that fitted to the TRAM Head Up Display Unit ODHU0034 which has a switch in this position.